Children of Bohemia
by TrueAngelofMusic1
Summary: Takes place about 20 years after the musical ended. This story follows the lives of the children of the original bohemians as they learn about pain, loss, love and finding their voices even in the most difficult times in life.
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1**

"Enter Mason Cohen. Tonight he plans to do absolutely nothing for the _third _night in a row. Perhaps he is going for a record…" Mark Cohen narrated as he moved his camera around his son, Mason, who was sitting on the old red couch in the center of the loft, watching TV. The loft had remained basically unchanged for almost twenty years.

"Put that down, dad!" Mason said as he threw a pillow in Mark's direction. Mark swiftly dodged it and laughed. Mason groaned in frustration. His father never ceased to annoy him by constantly waving that camera in his face. No matter what he was doing, that camera was always on.

In his seventeen years of living with his father Mason had learned to put up with it. Though sometimes, like now, he wished that his father would learn when he wasn't wanted.

Mark put his camera down on the table. "But seriously Mason, shouldn't you go out or something? Everyone else found something to do tonight." By everyone else, he meant the four other people, besides Mason and himself, that lived in the old loft. Roger and his daughter and Collins and his son. Collins had moved back in with them a year after Angel died.

"I'm just tired dad. I don't think it's a problem." Mason said, still not taking his eyes off of the TV. Mark sometimes wondered what came over his son. Most days he was perfectly happy and would be out of the house almost all day but sometimes he would just fall into a mood and completely isolate himself. Mark often wondered if it was his fault, that he wasn't a good enough parent. He wondered if Mason needed a mother figure in his life. Mason's mother had died when he was only a few months old. Mark could hardly stand thinking about it without feeling depressed himself.

Her name was Laura. She was a waitress at the Life Café when Mark had met her. They both instantly hit it off and were married within two years. Mark thought that she was perfect. She had dark hair and brown eyes and she was beautiful. She was a painter and had immediately fit in with the other bohemians in the group. She became pregnant with Mason and moved in with Mark, Roger and Collins. Mason was born and the family adjusted to the first little bohemian.

But when Mason was five months old tragedy struck the family. On her way back from work Laura was hit by a car and killed. It completely devastated Mark. He didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't had his son. Since then he had done everything he could to give his son the best life possible.

It was hard sometimes. The lack of money for the entire family had always been a struggle. They got by on the little that Mark made from selling his films and what was left over from Roger's huge success. His song, 'Your Eyes' had been and over night hit and had sold enough to give the family stability for quite a while. Joanne also contributed. Her career as a lawyer was probably the most stable of anyone and therefore she was able to help the family the most.

Everyone said that Mason looked like Mark. Though Mason was a bit taller, they both had the same strawberry blond hair and almost all of their features were the same. But little things about him reminded Mark of Laura, his eyes being the biggest. The large brown eyes that Mark had fallen in love with in his wife were almost exactly copied onto her son's face.

Another similarity to his mother was Mason's love of art. Laura had been an amazing painter and although Mason wasn't nearly a painter by any standards, he had an eye for photography. His camera was almost always at his side, something that everyone thought he gained from his father. Though Mason had tried to create films once, they hadn't nearly been as effective as his father's were. But his photography really spoke to people. He had an amazing natural ability to make people feel any emotion he wanted them to with a single picture.

"Fine." Mark said, defeated. "But tomorrow try to get out?" he pleaded. "Go do something with Liam and May." He suggested, referring to Roger's daughter and Collins' son who lived with them. The three of them were like actual siblings, maybe even closer. They had grown up in the same house their entire lives. On normal evenings the three of them would go do something together. The only times they didn't was when Mason was in one of his moods, which seemed to be getting less and less often, to Mark's pleasure.

"Speaking of those two," Mark continued "where are they tonight? It's getting late." Before Mason had a chance to answer, as if on cue, May and Liam walked through the door.

"Sorry we're late." exclaimed Liam as he kicked off his shoes. "May here thought it was absolutely necessary to spend extra time at the Life Café flirting with the waiter."

"I was not flirting!" May yelled back at him, hitting him teasingly on the shoulder. "We were just talking! I knew him from school when he was a senior and I was a freshman and that's _it!_"

"Oh _sure _that's it!" Liam replied, mockingly batting his eyes flirtatiously.

"God, you two can act like such children!" Mark said, stifling a laugh. "Hey May you better not let your dad here about this, you know how he can get." He said, half teasingly but half serious. They all new that Roger could get a little protective of his daughter.

"Yeah so you better shut up!" May told Liam as she threw a pillow at him. Liam caught it just as it was about to hit his head and proceeded to run back over to May and hit her repeatedly on the head and shoulders with it. May screeched and picked up another pillow and began to hit Liam with it. The two were fully consumed in their mock fight when the door opened.

"Whoa! What is going on in here?" exclaimed Collins as he walked in with Roger. He went over to the kitchen to put down the grocery bags he was holding. The two teenagers were still beating each other with the pillows when Collins walked over and scooped May up and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed as he walked across the room and set her down on the couch next to Mason. It was something that Collins had done to her since she was a little girl and he continued to do on occasions.

"You two are sixteen and seventeen!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing acting like five year olds?" he couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the two. They really were something. Of course their fight had only been play. They were all best friends and these things happened on an almost daily basis.

"Now, if you would please control yourselves. You are making Mason look like the sane one here!" Collins said with a laugh.

"Wow, thanks Uncle Collins." Mason said sarcastically, a small smile playing on his face. Liam walked over to the couch to put the pillow down.

"Hey, we missed you tonight." Liam said to Mason.

"You are coming with us tomorrow though, right?" May asked.

"Depends, what are you up to?" Mason questioned. He already knew that he wanted to go with them; he honestly didn't even care where they were going. He was tired of sitting in the house.

"We are going to go to Daphne and Liam's dance rehearsal and then go to the Life for some tea." May answered. Daphne was Joanne and Maureen's thirteen year old daughter. Her and Liam went to the same dance school. They were the two best dancers in the school and had rehearsals three nights a week. Mason and May would usually tag along and watch them and they would all go to the Life Café afterwards. They had been doing it for five years, since Daphne was six and started going to the same advanced dance school as Liam.

"Sounds great." Mason said. Mark looked over to his son gratefully. He was glad he was going to get out.

"Well," Roger said "I am going to bed." It was the first thing he had said since he got home. In fact, it was the only thing he had said in the house all day. He walked off to his room without another word.

"Goodnight dad." May said quietly. The door to Roger's room shut without a response. She lowered her head and rested it on her knees. Liam put his hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

"May, he…" Liam began to say. Before he could finish May stood up.

"I think I'm going to bed too." She said quietly. "Goodnight everyone." She walked off to her room and lightly shut the door. The room was silent.


	2. Chapter 2

_Mimi Marquez_

_1970-2008_

May read the name on the headstone as she gently ran her fingers across the letters. A burst of wind blew her dark curly hair away from her shoulders. She put the rose that she had been carrying down as she knelt in front of it. She took a deep breath.

"Hey mom." She said barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry I haven't come to visit in a while. Things have just been really busy lately." She paused a moment before continuing. "I can't believe you've been gone two months already. I miss you." She wiped a tear away from her face with her sleeve. "Dad misses you too, a lot. He's been sad. I don't think he has even picked up his guitar yet. He doesn't talk much either, not to me anyways. He talks to Uncle Collins and Uncle Mark sometimes. I even heard him talking with Mason the other day. Maybe it's just me he doesn't want to talk to. Maybe it's because I remind him too much of you. He's always said how much I look like you." She smiled a little. It was true that she looked like her mom. She had the same dark, curly hair and small frame. Almost all of her physical features were from her mom. The only resemblance she shared with her dad was his big dark green eyes. But May always felt like she and her dad had more similar personalities. Both of them were musicians and wrote music, though May preferred the piano over the guitar. She was also more of a quiet person, unlike her mother who had always loved being wild and spontaneous.

But there was one thing that May got from both of her parents. She was born HIV positive as a result of both of her parents being positive before she was born. Her mom had lived shorter because of how long she abused drugs. It wasn't until she found out that she was pregnant with May did she fully stop using. Roger was expected to live longer because he hadn't been on drugs nearly as long as Mimi. He was expected to live for about five to ten more years. May was healthy enough and hardly ever noticed that something was wrong with her. She had been taking medicine since she was born that was expected to let her live into her thirties. The medicine had gotten so much better in the past few years and had extended her life expectancy by many years.

"I wish he would stop being so sad. I miss his music and seeing him smile. I miss _him_. But I know that he misses you too much to be happy yet." She took another pause. "But Mason and Liam have been there for me. Especially Liam, I think that Mason is still too sad. You know that he saw you as a mom. But I think he is getting better. Most of us are. Things are starting to get back to normal for most of us.

"Liam is turning eighteen next month and he is going into his senior year once school starts back up. We all know he is going to have no problem and then get into a major college. He's still a genius. Joanne said that he might be able to get into Harvard if he really tries. Uncle Collins is so proud of him. He is still dancing too. He is getting so good and I can tell that he still loves it. Daphne is still dancing too. She is amazing and she still uses everything that you taught her. She always says how grateful she is that you gave her lessons." She took a moment to remember how little Daphne would come over for an hour everyday after school to have Mimi help her in dancing. Daphne had been a natural ballet dancer since she was five; she surpassed all the children in her class and all the classes above her. She had to be transferred to an advanced dance school when she was six to be able to be trained properly but she struggled in dances other than ballet. So Mimi had agreed to give her dance lessons in hip-hop and other dances. The lessons helped Daphne become the top dancer at her school, closely followed by Liam.

"Aunt Joanne and Aunt Maureen are thinking of sending her to private dance high school when she finishes middle school. Aunt Maureen is still crazy as ever and Aunt Joanne is still as sane as ever. I'm really glad I have them, mom. Without you I'm the only girl in our house. I like to go visit Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne when I can just for some girl time. They have been great, mom.

"Uncle Mark is good too. He started working on a new film after your funeral. He hasn't gotten very far yet but I'm sure its going to be amazing like every other one." Mark had told them about his new film a few hours after they had gotten home from the funeral. None of them knew what to think at the moment or why he was choosing then to tell them but they knew they were going to support him on it. So far none of them could tell what the central idea of it was because all he had filmed so far was random shots of May, Mason, Liam and Daphne doing what they did everyday. Nothing special nothing important or out of the ordinary. They were all pretty confused but decided not to question him about it yet.

"Uncle Collins is doing okay. He is getting sicker though." She said quietly. "The doctors are saying that it is a miracle he has made it this long. They say he should have been dead years ago. But most of the time it's hard to even remember that he is sick. He is just so happy all the time. It's just sometimes when he tries to move too much or when it gets too cold when I get worried." It was hard to think about her Uncle Collins, the man who had always been her friend always joked around with her and was always there for her, dying of AIDS.

"Mason is good too. Like I said before, he misses you a lot. You were like a mother to him his whole life and now that you're gone, I guess he feels like I do. He doesn't go out with us all the time and he likes to stay home a lot more. He is acting how I _should_ be acting. How I feel like acting. Most days I just want to stay in my room and be sad but I know I can't do that. I need to stay strong for dad. He can't see me upset." Her voice cracked on the last word. She let the tears flow from her eyes and just sat there for a few minutes.

"I miss you mom. Everyone does. It's really hard without you. You kept us all smiling." She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve. "I have to go now. Aunt Joanne, Aunt Maureen and Daphne are coming over and I'm going to pick them up some lunch`." She stood up and brushed the dirt and grass from her jeans. "I love you." She said towards the sky before walking away.

… … … … … … … … .. … … … … … … … … …

The loft was buzzing with the noise of voices early that afternoon. Joanne, Maureen and Daphne were all over visiting. It wasn't a rare thing for them to see the others, they lived just down the street in a different building, but every Sunday they came over when everyone was home. It was always a fun day and something everyone looked forward to all week.

Suddenly the door flew open and May walking in with two large bags in her hands.

"There she is!" Maureen exclaimed as she ran over to the door. She tried to hug her through the bags, which didn't work. Joanne came over and helped her with the bags and put them on the counter.

"Hey Aunt Jo." May said as she hugged her. Joanne wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Hey baby girl. How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. May smiled.

"I feel good. I went to talk to her today and I think it really helped." May had been talking to Joanne a lot the past few weeks and she felt like her Aunt was the only one she could really talk to. She knew that she couldn't talk to her father, not yet at least. And she knew that Mark would just tell everything she said to her father. She considered talking to Collins but decided that she didn't want to burden him with her troubles when he already had so many of his own. So she turned to her aunts. Though she loved Maureen, Joanne was just so much more logical about things. It really helped to talk to her.

"That's great baby." Joanne said with a smile.

"Hey May, what's in the bags?" Collins called over.

"Better be some food!" Mason said. "We're starving!" He got up off of the couch and came over to peak in the bags. May rolled her eyes.

"Yes its food. What would you do without me?" she said as she began emptying the contents of one of the bags onto the counter.

"Die, obviously." He said as he grabbed a jar of peanuts from her hands and ran back over to the couch.

"Ugh, you're such a pain!" she called over to him. Collins came over to the counter and began to empty the second bag.

"What else did you get?" he asked. May took five almost flat cardboard boxes out and placed them on the counter.

"Frozen pizzas" she said with a slightly disgusted look on her face. She hated eating frozen stuff but she couldn't afford much more that day. She had been working part time at the local music store for a few months and liked to bring home a meal whenever she could.

"Perfect." He said as he pulled a pizza out of one of the boxes and put it into the oven. Unlike May, the others weren't very particular about frozen food. She pulled the other four out of the boxes and put them in the oven before turning it on. She then went over to the couch and sat down, squishing herself between Liam and Mason. Daphne sat on the other side of Liam.

"So what have you guys been up to all day?" she asked.

"Liam helped me practice for my dance recital at my house!" Daphne exclaimed excitedly. Mason laughed.

"Since when can Liam help _you _at dance?" he said. Everyone knew that Daphne was a better dancer than Liam and there were times when she would help him with his dancing, never the opposite way around. Liam probably could have been just as good a dancer as Daphne if he practiced more. To most people that didn't seem possible, Liam was somewhere practicing dance at least four hours a day. But most of his time was spent studying. Unlike Daphne, who spent every moment of the day dancing, which did cause her school work to suffer.

"I have a duet dance in ballet and I wanted to practice for my rehearsal tonight so I would have everything perfect. Liam is the only boy in this family who can keep up with me." She said with a smirk.

"What about you Mason?" May asked. "What were you up to this morning?" Mason's body suddenly became stiff.

"Not much." He said quickly. The others looked at him questioningly.

"And what does that mean?" Daphne asked.

"Oh, just went to take some pictures near the park." He said dismissively. May raised an eyebrow. Why did he become all nervous if he just went to the park to take pictures? Daphne seemed to be satisfied with the answer but May saw that Liam had the same questioning look that she did. They shared a quick glance before deciding to just let it be. They knew that Mason was not the kind to do anything stupid that could get him hurt or in trouble. He got that from his father.

Before any of them could change the subject, a high pitched beeping noise came from the kitchen.

"Pizza!" Daphne called before racing to the kitchen followed by the rest of the family.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hurry up Daphne! We're going to be late!" Liam shouted down the hall. In the other room Daphne was already changed into her dance costume and was lacing up her shoes. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Calm down Liam! We have plenty of time." Liam was always rushing her to get ready. He was a boy and just didn't understand that she needed time to look her best for dance rehearsals. Just her hair alone took almost twenty minutes. She had almost the same hair as May; dark and curly, though Daphne's was just a few shades darker. It took _forever_ to get it into a proper bun. Then of course she needed her costume, shoes and makeup. (Despite Joanne's opposition to her wearing makeup at only thirteen, Maureen insisted that it was fine.)

Daphne was a dancer through and through. She _looked_ like a dancer. She was tiny, far shorter than anyone else in the family had been at her age. Her mothers had enrolled her ballet lessons when she was five. It was quickly realized by all of her teachers that she was a natural dancer and was far more advanced than any of the other students. After just a few weeks, Daphne became bored with the dance class and was bumped up to join the class a year ahead of her. She was again found to be too advanced and was entered into the next class up. After almost a year of this repeating, Daphne joined a dance school for gifted dancers. The school was meant for teenagers but Daphne fit in right away and could keep up with everyone else easily. By the time she was ten, Daphne was the best dancer in the school.

Now her moms were considering putting into a dance high school when she was finished with middle school. Well, more like arguing than considering. Maureen thought it was a wonderful idea and it was the best possible thing for her daughter while Joanne was not as enthusiastic. She thought school and dance should be separated so each could be focused on. As it was, Daphne struggled in school enough. The only time she ever even thought about school was while she was _in_ school. Even then, most of her class time was spent daydreaming or talking to her friends. The rest of her free time was spent either at dance classes, with Liam practicing dance or going out with May, Mason, and Liam.

Her moms disagreeing was not an unlikely thing. They could hardly ever agree on anything, especially when it came to Daphne. Everything about her, her clothes, her makeup, her possessions, even how her room was decorated, was an argument between Maureen and Joanne. But Daphne knew that her moms loved each other no matter what.

She used to take a lot of heat for having two moms. The kids in school didn't understand and some of them told her that she was weird for not having a dad. But Daphne knew that she wouldn't trade either of her moms for a dad any day.

"Daphne!" Liam called again, his voice growing impatient. Daphne sighed.

"I'm coming!" she yelled as she ran down the hall and into the living room where he was waiting.

"Took you long enough." He said teasingly. She rolled her eyes at him and ignored his remark as she heads towards the door.

"Let's just go." She said. Liam followed her and the two began to walk to the school.

… … … … … … … … .. … … … … … … … …

Mason looked over to the clock on the wall. He saw that Liam and Daphne's rehearsal would be ending soon. "Hey May, are you ready to go?" he called to May who was down the hall into her room. Moments later she peaked her head out from her door.

"Ready." She said with a smile as she walked into the room. She picked up her small bag that was by the door. "Let's go."

"Dad, we're leaving!" Mason called to his father, who was in his room working on some kind of project. He didn't bother to wait for a response before walking out the door. May followed close behind him and walked next to him. They were going to meet Daphne and Liam at the school right as it got out. Liam had left the apartment hours ago to pick up Daphne at her home and walk her to the school.

"So, what have you been up to?" Mason asked. "You were in your room for hours. I was starting to think that you had escaped out your window." He teased. She rolled her eyes at him with a smile.

"Yeah, that sounds like something I would do." She said with a laugh.

"If you must know, I was working on a piece that I have been writing. I am having writers block." She said, pursing her lips slightly. He could tell that she was frustrated with it.

"Well, maybe you will find some new inspiration tonight." He said with an optimistic smile. She gave a small laugh.

"Yes, because the Life Café is just full of inspiration. It's not like I have been there a million times." She said with a smile. He knew she was right, May spent more time at the Life than anyone he had ever met. If there was anything inspirational there she would have found it by now.

"I'm glad to have an excuse to leave though. I need a break from writing."

They both walk down the flights of stairs to the main floor of the old building and walk outside. Even though it was almost nine in the evening, the air was still hot enough to be annoying and the sun hadn't even fully set yet.

"Have you talked to your dad?" Mason asked after a moment. She sighed and shook her head slowly.

"Nope. It's been almost a week since he has talked to me." She said sadly. "I don't know what to do Mason. I want to talk to him but he is just so miserable all the time. It's like he just wants to forget about me."

"You know that's not true." Mason said, trying to comfort her. "He loves you. He's just still sad." She rolled her eyes.

"We are all still sad." She said, her voice sounding a bit angry. "But we are all at least _trying_ to keep going. We are all trying hard to keep up our normal lives. He is the only one who seems like he doesn't care what happens anymore." She kicks a small rock in front of her down the sidewalk. Mason sighed.

"We all deal with pain differently." He said. "Your dad deals with it by shutting out the world."

"But it's not the world!" she said loudly, almost yelling. "He is only shutting out me! He still talks to your dad and Uncle Collins and even you sometimes! Why won't he talk to me?" Mason can hear the pain in her voice; he can hear the tears that she is probably fighting back. He goes closer to her as they continue walking. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"It's not your fault." He said, trying to be comforting. "You look so much like your mom that it probably just hurts him to see you. But he will come around eventually. He is still your dad; he still loves you more than anything." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Thank you Mason." She said quietly. Just being with him and listening to him made her feel better. She sighed. "You're the best." He gave a small laugh.

"Yeah I know." He said with a smirk.

Minutes later they arrived at the dance studio. They opened the door and went inside the lobby to wait for Liam and Daphne to come out. They looked through the large window on the far end of the wall that let them see into one of the classes. They saw Liam in the room with three other dancers. They weren't dancing, just standing around talking to each other. Mason walked over to the window and knocked on the glass, trying to get Liam's attention. Liam looked over when he heard it and smiled when he saw Mason. Mason motioned for him to come on. Liam said something to the other dancers and walked out of the classroom. He waved at them when he entered the lobby, carrying his dance bag over his shoulder.

"How was class?" May asked, trying to sound happy. She wanted to just forget about her dad for a few hours and be with her friends.

"Great, as usual." Liam answered with a smile. "Is Daphne out yet?" he asked. Mason shook his head.

"Nope, not-" he isn't able to finish his sentence before Daphne walked through the doors of the lobby.

"Oh great, you are all here already." She said happily. "Now I don't have to wait." May rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Oh yes, what a tragedy that would have been." She said sarcastically as she walked over to Daphne. She motioned to the giant dance bag that she was carrying. It looked monstrous compared to Daphne's small body. "Here, let me take that." She offered. Daphne handed the bag to May.

"Thanks." She said appreciatively.

"Hey!" Liam called from the other side of the lobby. "No one offered to take my bag!" he said in mock surprise.

"Well you aren't a tiny thirteen year old trying to carry a bag twice as big as you are!" May said back. "Plus," she said, putting her arm around Daphne. "I like Daphne better." She said with a smile. They all laughed as Liam turned away dramatically, pretending to be offended.

Mason rolled his eyes at all of them. "Let's just go guys." He said with a laugh. "Its about to get dark." It was already almost completely dark outside. They all left the dance studio and began walking towards the Life.

"Damn, it's hot out here!" Liam complained. "How is it still so hot when it is dark out?"

"How should we know?" Daphne asked. "_You're___the genius." She said with a smile. May scoffed at them.

"Its called summer, get used to it." she said teasingly. "So Daphne, how was dance today?" she asked. Daphne's smile suddenly turned into a scowl.

"It was terrible!" she said. "My duet partner didn't even show up! It was supposed to be our first practice together and the kid doesn't even bother to come. I have never even met him and I already hate him!" she said angrily. Liam smiled and pat her shoulder gently.

"Tough break. But maybe he had a good excuse." He said optimistically. Daphne groaned.

"I doubt it. He's probably just another kid who thinks that dance is just a game and he can just skip lessons whenever he feels like it." she said in an annoyed tone. "How am I supposed to be ready for a duet when I can't even practice with my partner?"

"Don't worry Daph." Mason said. "He will show up next time."

"He better." Daphne responded harshly. May couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Daphne angry was always funny to watch. She was just so small that seeing her mad made her look like a child throwing a tantrum. May couldn't take her seriously. Daphne is about to yell at May for laughing when they arrive at the Life Café.

They push open the doors and are greeted by a waft of cool air from inside. They all rush into the Café, eager for the cool. They all walk over to their favorite table towards the back and sit down, Liam next to Daphne and Mason and May sitting across from them. They wait for the waiter to come over. It is the same one that Liam and May had seen the night before, the one that Liam had insisted that May had been flirting with.

"Hey May." He said with a smile. May smiled up at him.

"Hi Cameron." She said as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"These your friends?" he asked, motioning towards the others at the table.

"Yeah, this is Liam, Daphne and Mason. But they are more like family. Liam and Mason both live with me with our parents and Daphne lives just down the street." She told him happily.

Mason looks at the table. He doesn't get why May was telling him that. He doesn't look up at Cameron, knowing that it will only make him angry. He knows that May probably thinks he is cute or something. He has tanned skin and dark brown hair. He is classically attractive but Mason thought he looked too fake. He doesn't see why May is so into him.

"Yeah, I remember Liam from last night." Cameron said to her. "It's nice to see you again." He said to Liam. "And it's nice to meet you two." He said to Daphne and Mason. Daphne smiles up at him but Mason keep looking at the table, a small scowl on his face. May saw him and frowned at him. She wondered why he was being so unfriendly.

"So, what can I get you guys?" Cameron asked, apparently not noticing Mason's annoyance. Daphne and Liam both order iced tea, Mason ordered decaf coffee and May ordered Green Tea.

"Shocker." Liam teases quietly when May orders. It is the only thing that she ever gets to drink here. Practically the whole staff knew what to bring her without even asking. Cameron was new, Liam guessed he was just here for a summer job, but he would figure it out eventually.

"Shut up!" May tells Liam with a small laugh. Cameron smiled before walking away to go get their drinks. May turned to Mason.

"What was that about?" she asked him.

"I don't know what you mean." He grumbled, still staring down at the table. May looked over to Liam, wondering if he had any idea of what was going on with him. But Liam shrugged his shoulders, just as confused as her. May sighed but decided to ignore it, not feeling like questioning Mason.

A few minutes later Cameron came back with their drinks. He talked to May a few moments before leaving the table and going back to work. Mason didn't look up from the table the entire time.

"I guess May will be coming here even more often." Liam teased after Cameron had walked far enough away that he couldn't hear him. May looked up at him.

"Ugh, you are impossible!" May said. "I do _not_ like him!" she insisted, but she couldn't help letting a small smile creep across her face. Liam chuckled

"Uh huh, sure May." He said with a smile.

"She _said_ she doesn't like him!" Mason said suddenly, his voice low and his eyes still fixed on the table.

"Mason," May chided. "Its fine, he was just kidding. What's going on with you?" she asked, looking at him. He looked up at her.

"Nothing. Sorry. Just forget it." he said quickly. She looked at him for a moment longer, trying to read his face hoping to catch a glimpse of what was bothering him, but couldn't tell. She looked away from him and took a sip of her tea. The table was silent for a moment, all of them a little surprised about the moment that just passed. It was kind of like May and Mason had almost had a fight. That hadn't happened in years. They always got along, never allowing a disagreement to cause them to fight. It hadn't been an argument, but it had come closer to it than it had in years.

"Don't you ever get tired of drinking that?" Daphne asked May after a moment, trying to break the silence. "I mean, you come here almost every day and you always get the same thing. Doesn't it ever get boring?" May shook her head.

"Nope." She answered with a small smile. "Its my favorite, nothing else is as good." Daphne accepts the answer and the four of them finish the rest of their drinks in mostly silence.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! So first off I just want to thank everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed this story so far! I wasn't sure how this story was going to go but now I definitely am going to continue it! So PLEASE leave a review telling me what you think! **

May sat up in her bed. It was late, past midnight, but she couldn't sleep. Her mind was racing with thoughts of her father and Mason. She sighed as she flicked on the light to her room. She couldn't figure out what had been wrong with Mason earlier. Why had he acted so weird at the Life? She knew that something was up, but she had no idea what. This was on top of the thoughts of her father that had been going through her head for days. He hadn't said a word to her when she had gotten home with Mason and Liam, not that she had expected him to.

She stood up and walked across the room to the old acoustic guitar that was leaned against the wall in the corner. She picked it up and walked it over to her bed. She sat down and rested it on her lap, gently stroking the neck of the instrument. Even though she preferred the piano, her father had taught her how to play guitar when she was younger and she had never forgot. She began quietly playing the few notes that her father used to always play whenever he was just being absent minded. Uncle Mark always teased her dad, saying that it reminded him of Musetta's Waltz, but May had always liked the sound of it. She played quietly, her fingers pulling the strings softly, barely making any noise. Just the motion of it was soothing to her.

"Now that sounds familiar." Collins said softly as he opened her door and stepped into the room. He smiled when he saw her sitting on the bed with the guitar.

"I haven't see you play that thing in forever." He said. She looked at him and gave a small smile. "Why are you still up?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Can't sleep." She answered simply. "Why are you?" He chuckled quietly.

"I _was_ asleep." He said. "I just got up to get a drink and I heard music coming from in here. It reminded me of what your dad used to play." He said lightly. May looked down at the guitar.

"Yeah, that's where I learned it." she said quietly. "But I haven't heard him play in months." Collins sighed. He walked over and sat down next to her.

"He is just having a hard time adjusting." He said, trying his hardest to explain it to her in a way that won't make her upset. "He just needs some time to figure out how he is going to go on from here."

"But why won't he talk to me? Hell, he won't even look at me." She said, trying to hide the sadness in her voice but not doing a very good job of it. Collins wrapped an arm around her.

"He's trying, he really is. He wants to talk to you but when he sees you all he can think about is your mom. You look so much like her." He said with a small smile.

"That's what I've been told." She said, trying to smile. Its what _everyone_ said.

"Just give him some time May. He'll come around." Collins said as he stood up from the bed. "Get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay Uncle Collins." She said. "Goodnight."

May waited for the door to shut before standing up and putting the guitar back in the corner. She climbed back into bed and shut the light off. After a few minutes, she fell asleep.

… … … … … … … … .. … … … … … … … …

Liam was up early the next morning, before anyone else in the house was awake. He walked out into the living room and took out a huge book. He decided to read some of his summer reading book to get it over with. If May or Mason were awake he knew that they would make fun of him for starting it so soon in the summer but he actually didn't mind reading. He didn't mind a lot of the school things that the others hated.

Liam had loved school as long as he could remember and he had always been great at it. His grades were the top of the class almost every year. He was confident that this upcoming school year, his senior year in high school, would go great for him. He had been talking to Joanne about getting into Harvard, the same college that she had gone to. She really believed that he could get in. Collins had been ecstatic when he heard this. He had always been proud of his son for everything he did, and this was no exception.

Though Liam wasn't biologically related to him, Collins thought of him as nothing less than his son through and through.

Collins had "adopted" Liam when Mason was nine months old and Mimi was eight months pregnant with May. Collins had been walking home late that night, picking up some groceries for the family, when he heard a cry coming from a back alley. He had immediately gone to investigate and found a two year old boy sitting there alone. His clothes were old and dirty and he looked terrible. Collins dropped all of the bags and went over to the little boy, careful not to scare him. He brought him back to the loft, insisting that he take care of him until they found his family.

He contacted social services the next day, asking if anyone had reported a missing child. No one had. Collins agreed to keep Liam with him until they found the boy's family. It was a struggle, they already had a six month old in the house and May was going to be born so soon. Collins was sure that someone would come looking for the boy but no one ever did. He started calling him Liam, meaning strong-willed. He thought it fit him.

After a year of no one claiming Liam, Collins legally adopted him, with no protest from the rest of the family. It already seemed like Liam was one of them, the thought of him not being with them forever was too strange.

It wasn't hard to believe that Liam was Collins' son. He looked enough like him to pass as even biological to someone who didn't know them well. Liam had dark skin, though a bit lighter than Collins', and the same shaped brown eyes as Collins.

About twenty minutes after Liam had started reading, May stepped out of her room and walked into the living room.

"Morning." She said sleepily. She looked over to him and saw the book he was holding. "What are you reading?" she asked. Liam lifted up the book slightly, showing her the cover.

"Johnny Tremain." He told her. "It's summer reading." She rolled her eyes teasingly but didn't say anything. She sat down on the couch next to him. She stayed silent for a few minutes, letting him read, before sighing loudly.

"So, what do you think has been going on with Mason?" she asked him. He waited a few moments before putting his book down, marking his page before he closed it. He looked at her.

"Honestly¸I have no idea." He said with a slightly perplexed look. "I thought you might have a clue." She shook her head.

"I don't. But we both agree that he has been acting weird, right?" she asked. He nodded his head in confermation.

"First it was when we asked what he had been doing all day, he started acting strange." He said. May nodded.

"And then again yesterday when we were at the Life talking to Cameron." She said. "Do you have any ideas? Has he said anything to you?"

"Nothing." He sighed. "You don't think he is doing anything that could get him into trouble, do you?" he asked, concerned for his friend. May shook her head immediately.

"No way." She said. Mason wasn't the kind of person to do anything dangerous or stupid. They all knew that.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Liam said with a nod. There was no way Mason could do anything like he had been thinking. Still, he knew about the kids from school who had seemed like good people until they got mixed in with the wrong crowd. Liam knew that just a few wrong choices could change someone's life forever. He hoped more than anything that Mason wasn't making those choices.

Suddenly May stood up from the couch. She couldn't stand thinking about this stuff, not about Mason.

"Do you want some breakfast?" she asked Liam as she walked to the small kitched.

"What do we have?" he called. May looked through the cabinets and fridge for a few moments before sighing quietly.

"A box on Captain Crunch, some milk and half a container of orange juice." She said with a weak smile. It was pretty much the standard breakfast in the house. There was hardly ever anything else. Liam chuckled quietly as he stood up from the couch, leaving his book where he had been sitting, and walked over. He leaned his elbows on the counter.

"Sounds great." He said happily. May laughed and rolled her eyes at him. She couldn't understand why she was the only one in the house who minded eating boxed and frozen food all the time. She pulled out two bowls and two cups from the cabinet. Before she had a chance to shut the cabinet door, Mason walked out of the room that he and Liam shared and into the living room.

"Morning." May called to him. "Hungry?" Mason nodded his head as he yawned. May pulled out another bowl and cup and shut the cabinet as Mason walked over to stand next to Liam. May poured some of the cereal and milk into her bowl before passing it to Liam. As he poured himself a bowl she got some orange juice and filled her cup halfway before passing that to Liam too. They were all silent for a few minutes as they ate, Mason practically still half asleep. Suddenly they head another bedroom door shut and Collins walked into the room. He smiled as he walked in, looking wide awake. Quite a contrast from the three still exhausted looking teenagers.

"Morning all." Collins said with a grin. "I see that I mussed the invitation to the party." He joked.

"Good morning Dad." Liam said. "Are you hungry? We are having our specialty." Collins looked over the food that was spread over the counter.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "Captain Crunch and O.J. I think I'll pass for now. Actually, I was just on my way out." Liam looked at him curiously.

"Where are you headed?" he asked his father.

"To the Life Café of course." he said with a grin. "Its Saturday." He reminded them. Every Saturday morning Collins, Roger and Mark would go to the Life for breakfast. It had been their tradition for years. "And as soon as your lazy ass fathers wake up," he said, pointing to May and Mason "we will go."

"Who are you calling lazy?" Mark said as he walked into the room. "Is Roger up yet?" Collins shook his head.

"Not yet." He said to Mark. "Roger!" he called loudly. "Get your ass out here! Its time to go!" Mark chuckled softly at his friend.

"Perfect." He said, still laughing. Almost a full minute later, Roger walked into the room.

"Thanks for the wake up call." He grumbled sarcastically.

"Ready to go?" he asked Mark and Collins. They both nodded and they all headed out the door, leaving the three teens still standing in the kitchen.

"Anyone have any plans for the day?" May asked the two.

"I'm probably going to stay home for a while and finish some more of my book." Liam said. He wanted to get the boring summer assignment over with, unlike the other two who liked to wait until the last minute possible.

"Big surprise there." May said sarcastically. "What about you?" she asked Mason.

"I'm going to the park to take some pictures." He answered flatly. "I should go now, before it gets too crowded." He said as he walked away from the counter. He grabbed his camera bag off of the small table in the living room and walked out the door, leaving his half eaten bowl of cereal and untouched cup of orange juice on the counter.

"Well, that was strange…" May said quietly after the door had shut."

**I hope you liked this chapter! It took a while to write but I THINK that it went okay. Please please PLEASE remember to leave a review! Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

It was almost two hours later when May walked into the living room. She had been in her room since she finished her breakfast, working on a song. But she had made little progress, her mind was too distracted. Liam was sitting on the couch, still reading his boring book. She flopped down on the couch next to him and hurriedly took the book out of his hand and put it face down on the couch.

"Can I help you?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I need to know what's wrong with Mason." She said. She sighed. "What if he is doing something that he isn't supposed to? What if he is getting himself into trouble?" her voice was raising in worry.

"Calm down May." Liam said. "I want to know too but there isn't much that we can do." May sat there for a moment, thinking.

"I think I'm going to check his room." She said finally. "Maybe there is something there that will give me a clue." Liam looked at her.

"I don't know May." He said cautiously. "I mean, I share a room with him and I never noticed anything strange in there."

"That's because you have never looked hard enough." May said. "I know Mason, if there was something that he didn't want anyone to know about, it would be hidden well." Liam thought about it for a few more moments.

"Fine." He said. "But only because I am worried that he is doing something that he might regret." He said. They both left the couch and walked slowly into Mason and Liam's room.

They went to Mason's side of the room. His bed was unmade, the blankets hanging halfway off. The wall above his bed had a few frames hanging with some of his favorite pictures that he had taken. A black and white picture of a group of people sitting on an old stood of a building, a small finch standing in a puddle, a child at the park holding hands with his young mother, and his favorite and the biggest picture: Liam, Daphne, Mason and May all standing together outside smiling up at the camera. Mason had put the camera on a tripod and set the timer before running over to join the picture. May smiled slightly as she looked at the picture of all of them together. It had been taken last winter; it seemed like so long ago.

"Where do you want to look?" Liam asked, brining May out of her daze. She looked around the room quickly and her eyes landed on the large bookshelf next to Mason's bed.

"There" she said as she pointed to it. There were hardly any books in it, but dozens of photo albums filled with his photography. Liam nodded and they both went over to it. They looked over it for a few minutes.

"These are al the same pictures that we have seen a million times." He said. It was true, there was nothing on the shelf that was new or unusual. May sighed. She picked up a dark blue album that was marked 'Summer 2007'. As she took it off the shelf as stack of loose pictures that had been under it fell to the ground. May quickly bent down to pick them up. As she gathered them up she noticed that they were unfamiliar, she had never seen them before. She was immediately curious; Mason always showed her the pictures he took right after he got them. She looked at the first picture on the top of the stack. It was a picture of May kneeling in front of a headstone, not looking at the camera. It had been taken the day before when she went to visit her mother. But she hadn't seen Mason there, he had said that he had been at the park. Her head spun. Why had Mason been at the cemetery?

"Liam…" May said quietly. She looked at the next picture in the stack. It was another one of her at the cemetery, this time she was placing a rose in front of the headstone. "You might want to see this." She said. Liam moved over to look at the pictures.

"When were these taken?" he asked.

"Yesterday I think." She said. "When I went to visit my mom. But, I thought that Mason said that he was at the park." She flipped to the next picture. It was one of her at the park a few blocks away. She was sitting at a bench looking out at the pond with a small smile on her face. Again, she wasn't looking at the camera. It had been taken about a week earlier. She hadn't even known that he had been there. She quickly looked though the rest of them. There were almost a dozen pictures of May, none of them with her looking at the camera and none of them did she know that he had been there.

"Liam, why does he have-" before she could finish her sentence the door to the room opened and Mason walked in. He had his camera bag slung over his shoulder and he had a small bag in his hand that was used to put new pictures in when he got them developed so they didn't get ruined. He looked over and saw May and Liam on the floor. It took him a moment to realize what they were looking at. His eyes grew wide.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked, his voice sounding both angry and nervous at the same time.

"We were just-" Liam began.

"Going." May interrupted. "We were just going." She stood up quickly and placed the stack of pictures on a shelf. She grabbed Liam's arm hastily and quickly dragged out of his room. She walked quickly into her room, still pulling Liam.

"What the hell was that?" she asked. "Why did he have those pictures? How did he even take them? I didn't see him at any one of those places where the pictures were taken." She sat down on the edge of her bed. She had worked herself p so that her head was spinning, everything seemed to be going in fast forward. Liam walked over and sat down next to her.

"Calm down May." He said coolly. "There has to be some kind of explanation." He sighed and thought for a moment. "They were really good pictures." He pointed out quietly. They had been. Each looked professional, almost unreal. Everything about the pictures made you feel an emotion that Mason had wanted when he took the picture. From the setting to the expression on May's face in the photos, they almost looked staged they were so perfect.

"Yeah I know." May said. "But why was he taking them? I mean, he didn't even tell me. If he wanted pictures, why would he just ask me?" she asked. Liam sighed.

"If he didn't tell you he was taking them it is because he didn't' want you to know about them. It means he wanted the pictures of you but didn't want you to know that he wanted them."

"Why would he want to do that?" she asked, completely confused. Liam shook his head slowly and sighed.

"May I don't know. Maybe he… oh, never mind." He said. May looked at him, wanting to know what he was going to say, but decided not to question him.

I don't know Liam. I just have no clue." She said as she put her face in her hands. After a minute she looked up at Liam. "Will you go talk to him?" she asked. Liam nodded his head.

"Yeah, I probably should." He said with a sigh. He stood up from the bed and turned towards May.

"May, don't freak. There is probably a great explanation." He assured, knowing that May had a tendency to overreact.

"Fine." She said quietly as she laid back on the bed. Liam walked out the door, quietly shutting it behind him.

… … … … … … … … .. … … … … … … … …

It had been almost two hours since Liam had left the room to go talk to Mason and May still hadn't heard back from him. She had been occupying herself my playing some of her old pieces that she wrote on the keyboard in her room. It had kept her mind busy for a little while but she was beginning to become restless. She stayed quiet for a moment, trying to find out if she could hear Liam and Mason through the walls. After a few moments of listening she learned that she couldn't. She figured that they must be talking quietly, probably on purpose, or she would have been able to hear their muffled voices. She sighed and decided that she couldn't stay in her room all day. She would need to leave sometime. She got up and walked quietly into the living room, peaking her head in first to make sure there was no one else in there. When she was it was empty she stepped in.

She walked over to the TV to turn it on and noticed the large box that was in the shelf under it. It was the box of home movies from further back than she could remember, some probably from before she was born. Mark filmed almost every part of their lives so they had hundreds of different films. May opened the box carefully and pulled out a random footage reel. She figured it had to be from over a year ago because that is when Mark had reluctantly stopped using his old 80's style camera and got a new one that used disks instead of reels. She brought the reel over to the old projector in the corner and set it up, facing the projector towards a blank white wall so she could watch it. She flicked on the 'play' button and sat down on the couch. The shot flickered for a moment before revealing a scene of a playground.

_The shot zoomed in on a six year old Mason sitting on a swing. He smiled up at the camera, showing that one of his top teeth was missing. He kicked his legs back and forth, trying to get the swing to move. After a few failed attempts he jumped off of the swing and ran across the playground towards a six year old May who was climbing on the monkey bars. Roger was holding onto her legs, helping her get across. _

_"Daddy, I can do it!" little May told her father, wanting him to let her do it on her own._

_"Are you sure?" Roger asked her cautiously. _

_"Yes!" May said. Roger let go of her and took a few small steps back and May continued the rest of the way across herself. When she jumped off, Mimi picked her up into her arms and spun her around. Little May giggled as Mimi kissed her head and put her back on the ground._

May smiled as she watched the scene from the couch. The Mimi in the video hardly looked any different from how May remembered her from just a few months ago. It seemed like she never aged.

_Back in the video, the little six year old May ran up to the little Mason, her dark curls flying out behind her. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards a large green slide. They climbed to the top but the young Mason hesitated._

_"I-I don't know…" he said nervously as he looked down the length of the slide._

_"Its okay Mason!" she encouraged. "It isn't that scary. Here," she said as she took his hand. "I'll go with you." She sat down at the top of the slide and told him to sit behind her. They pushed themselves forward and both went down the slide, giggling as they hit the ground clumsily._

"You always were the brave one." Mason said from the corner of the room. May turned around to face him, he was standing in the doorway of the living room.

"Someone had to be." She said with a smile. "Who else would have gotten you to go down that slide?" He laughed quietly as he came over to the couch and sat next to her. They looked towards the screen and continued watching the video.

_The little May and Mason ran over from the bottom of the slide over to a sandbox where a three year old Daphne and a seven year old Liam were sitting. Daphne was sitting in the center, sand all over her lap and she was laughing as she made a pile of sand in front of herself. Joanne ran over to her and tried to brush the sand off of her. Maureen put a hand on Joanne's arm, telling her to relax. Joanne got the rest of the sand off of her daughter before backing off._

_Liam was sitting on the wooden side of the box, his face buried in a short chapter book. May ran in front of him and tried to get him to put the book down._

_"Come on Liam!" she said to him. "Come play! You can read later." Liam thought about it for a moment before folding the page in his book and standing up. He ran over to hand his book to Collins, who took it and ruffled his son's hair before he ran off._

_May, Liam and Mason went over to a climbing structure and began to race to the top._

_"Mason, be careful!" a nervous Mark shouted from behind the camera. Collins came halfway into the view of the camera, approaching Mark._

_"He's fine Mark." He said, relaxed. "Let the kid play."_

_"He could fall…" Mark said, not anymore relaxed._

_"He is fine." Collins repeated. "Look," he said, pointing to the kids. "May is the same age as him and she isn't afraid of anything here. If you relax, so will Mason." He advised. Mark let out a nervous sigh. _

_"Fine." He said. He walked the camera closer to where the kids were playing._

_Liam was sitting at the very top, looking down at the space around him. He waved over to his father, who waved back happily. May was a little below him, hanging upside down from her knees._

_"Mommy, look at me!" she shouted over to Mimi. Collins laughed._

_"She is definitely your daughter Mimi." He said jokingly. And it was true, at that age May was almost exactly like Mimi. Besides her eyes, which were 100% Roger, she looked exactly like Mimi. Her dark curly hair and her small frame made her an almost exact replica of her mother. She was also daring, loud, and loved to be the center of attention._

Mason chuckled from beside her on the couch. "You were so different back then." He said. "You were crazy, just like your mom. Now you're… well, your dad." He said with a smile. May smiled because she knew it was true. Now she acted almost nothing like her mom had and had the same quiet, artistic personality as her father.

_Back on the screen, Mason was looking on at May in amazement. _

_"May, how'd you do that?" he asked in wonder. May giggled. _

_"Its easy Mason! You just flip upside down!" she said as she swung back and forth from her knees slightly. Mason climbed up a few steps so he was on the same level as May. He wrapped his keens over the metal bar and tried to flip himself upside down but he ended up just flailing his arms wildly and then clutching the bar tightly, trying to steady himself._

_"I-I can't…" he said, still clutching onto the bar. May climbed back up so she was right side up again. _

_"That's okay Mason." She said comfortingly. "Let's go play something else." She thought for a moment before smiling wildly. She tapped Mason on the shoulder lightly. "You're it!" she shouted as she jumped off of the structure and ran away, laughing. Mason smiled and climbed down carefully before running after her, happy that they found a game that he could play._

_"Hey!" Liam shouted with a smile before jumping down and running to catch up to them. The camera followed them as they ran across the playground, ducking and dodging around the equipment. Daphne got up from the sandbox and began to run around too, trying to follow them on her short legs._

_There was a few more minuets of footage of them all running around, playing their game laughing and giggling the whole time. Before long the sky began to change color and Collins called out to the kids: "Time to go!" followed by a short chorus of protests._

The screen went blank and the reel ended. Mason sighed from beside May and got up to put it back into the box. When it was back in the box he sat back down next to her. He was silent for a few long moments before finally speaking.

"So, I guess you want to know why I have those pictures." He said quietly.

"Yeah, I do." May replied almost a bit harshly. She hadn't meant to sound like that, but she did. Mason went silent again before sighing.

"I can't tell you now." He said. She turned to face him, her face a mixture of confusion and anger. She was about to speak when he interrupted. "Eventually I will." He said. He thought for a moment. "Maybe." He got up without looking at her. "Shouldn't you be heading to work?" he asked, not looking at her. May sighed.

"Yeah, whatever." She said angrily. She didn't understand why he was being so difficult. She got up and went to grab her bag out of the corner of the room. As she was walking to the door it flew open and Mark, Collins, and Roger walked in, laughing. May continued towards the door.

"Hey, where you headed?" Collins asked her.

"Work." She grumbled as she brushed past them and stormed out the door.

"What's up with her?" Roger asked Mason, who had been watching her leave from the far corner of the living room.

"Dunno." He answered with a shrug before he walked off to his room.

**I Hope you liked it! PLEASE remember to review! If you dont review, how do I know what I am doing right and what I should change? Let me know!**


	6. Chapter 6

Down the hall, May was fuming mad. She didn't understand why Mason wouldn't just tell her why he had those pictures of her. She couldn't think of any reason why he would have them, especially without her knowing that they even existed. If he had wanted to take pictures of her, why hadn't he just asked instead of following her around without her even knowing?

As she left the building, she accidentally bumped into a tall, African-American man, wearing an expensive looking suit. He had a boy walking next to him that seemed to be about fourteen.

"I'm so sorry." May apologized quickly. "Are you okay?" she asked him. He nodded his head.

"Its fine." He said dismissively. He looked down at her. "Do you live in this building?" he asked her. She nodded her head. "Would you happen to know what room number Roger Davis, Mark Cohen and Thomas Collins live in?" she looked at him strangely for a moment before answering.

"14B" she said cautiously. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh I'm just, um, an old friend." He said, his voice twisting the word 'friend' strangely. "Thank you for the help." He said before walking off, the boy following close behind him. May watched them walk away, wondering why he wanted to know where they lived. She decided to just forget about it, he obviously knew them from somewhere and, based on the way he was dressed, she figured he was important.

She walked quickly down the few blocks to the small music shop 'New York Sound' that she worked at part time. She opened the door and went behind the counter to start her shift. The store was empty, not an unusual occurrence, so May sat down on the small bench behind the counter and picked up an acoustic guitar that was on display a few feet away. She began to play it softly, the same melody that she had been playing the night before when Collins had heard her in her room. She played with the tune, adding extra riffs and changing the tempo, making it her own.

She had lost track of time when she heard someone clear their throat not far away from her. She looked up quickly and saw a man who looked to be in his early twenties standing in front of the counter, looking at her.

"Hi, how can I help you?" she asked in the usual cheery voice that she used with customers.

"I'm looking for the guitar picks…?" he said, his voice getting higher at the end, making it sound like he was asking a question.

"Right over there." She said, pointing to a plastic container filled with multicolored guitar picks a few feet away.

"Thanks." He said quietly, but he didn't move or look away from her. "What was that you were playing?" he asked.

"Oh nothing. I was just playing around with some chords…" she said nervously, not knowing how to respond. She hadn't intended for anyone to hear her play, she had thought the store was empty. He nodded his head.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "It was good." He said to her before walking towards the guitar picks that she had pointed out. She looked at him strangely when he had turned away; he had acted like she asked his opinion on her playing, which she most certainly had _not_.

She turned away from him and started playing again, this time not adding anything extra, just the original notes that she had heard a million times before when her father used to play.

After a few minutes of browsing, the man picked out a few picks and walked over to May to pay for them.

"Did you find everything you were looking for today?" she asked with a smile that probably looked a bit too fake, just speaking the script that she was told to use when dealing with costumers. The man nodded and paid for the picks. May put them into a small bag and handed it to him. "Have a nice day." She said. The man turned away and left the store. She sighed in relief, happy to have the shop to herself again.

The rest of her shift went by quietly and slowly, only a few more costumers trickling in. When it was six o'clock, the middle age man that had the next shift came in and May left the shop. She took a step out and realized that it was raining. She groaned and began walking through the rain. She had been so distracted earlier that she hadn't thought to look at what the weather was going to be so she didn't have a jacket or umbrella. Her apartment was only five blocks away but in the rain, it seemed much longer.

When she reached her building she went in the doors quickly; the rain had turned the hot summer air cold and she was almost shivering, her clothes damp from the water.

She ran up the stairs and reached her apartment quickly. She realized that she had left the home so quickly that she had forgotten her key. She sighed as she knocked on the door quickly, her teeth chattering. The air conditioning in the halls that ran in the summer was still on despite the weather, causing her to become colder. Her shirt was almost soaked through and she felt freezing with the cold air blowing around her. She rocked back and forth on her toes impatiently. She was about to knock again when Liam opened the door. He looked her over quickly, frowning when he saw what she looked like.

"Get inside!" he commanded when he felt the cool air blow in from the hall. "You'll freeze." He said as he put his arm around her shoulder and hurried her in the door. Collins, who was standing a few feet away from the door, saw her and ran over to the pile of clean laundry that was in the corner and brought her a towel.

"Th-th-thanks." She managed to stutter through her still chattering teeth. Liam backed away from her, giving her some space. Everyone else, who had been sitting on the couch watching TV, looked over at her.

"You have to be more careful, May." Collins scolded quietly as he wrapped an arm around her small shoulders, trying to warm her up quicker. "You know that you get sick quicker than everyone else." He said. She sighed because she knew that he was right. She was the only one of the kids that was HIV positive and it caused her to become sick easier and more severely than them.

"I know Uncle Collins. I didn't think to check the weather before I left for work." She explained. He nodded his head and sighed.

"Fine, next time just use a payphone to call me to come get you. I'll bring you an umbrella or something." He said with a smile.

"Thanks Uncle Collins, I'll try to remember." She promised. Out of all the adults lately, Collins was the one that was the most cautious about May's sickness. He made sure that she didn't do anything, like go out in the rain, that could make her sick and he was the one who reminded her to take her AZT when she would forget, which was a lot. Roger had been extremely adamant about it too, especially when she was little, but had stopped when Mimi had died, when he almost completely shut himself off from his daughter.

Collins sighed. "Okay baby. I'll get you some dinner." He said as he walked over to the kitchen. "We made Mac and Cheese, I'll reheat some for you. In the mean time, go change out of those wet clothes and put on something dry." He instructed. She nodded her head and walked towards her room to change. Collins sighed as he watched her go. He had decided to take it upon himself to take care of May's condition since Roger had been neglecting to do it the past two months. He didn't blame his friend, he knew that he needed some time to mourn and adjust to life without Mimi. But May was a teenager, she was forgetful and didn't take anything about herself too seriously. She needed someone to worry about her and Collins was happy to do it. He thought of her as almost a daughter and he hated to see her suffer. When she was sick he felt terrible; the disease that had troubled him for years and was causing him to slowly die, was affecting this little girl that he loved. He hated the idea that May was going to die decades before she should because of this.

He took out the container of leftover Mac and Cheese fro the fridge and put in into the microwave, setting the timer for a minute and a half. When it was halfway through its first rotation may came into the room wearing grey sweatpants and a purple tank top. She sat at one of the tall chairs by the counter. Collins looked towards her.

"Take your AZT." He instructed. She sighed.

"But Uncle Collins, I don't need-"she was cut off my a sudden whir as the apartment became dark. The lights shut off, the microwave stopped its rotation and the TV that everyone was watching in the other room fell silent. There was a quiet murmur of confusion that swept through the rooms.

"What happened?" Mason called.

"I don't know…" Collins said, confused. The apartment was almost impossible to see in, though it was only about 6:30 the rain clouds prevented any light from coming through the windows.

"We paid the electric bill for this month, right?" asked Roger.

"Yeah." Mark said. He stood up. "I don't know why the power went out." He walked towards the door and opened it, looking out into the hallway. "Looks like it is only our apartment." He said.

"What the hell is going on with the damn lights?" Roger asked, becoming annoyed.

"I don't know," Collins called "But there isn't much we can do about it right now. We'll wait until the morning and if there is still a problem, I'll handle it." Everyone seemed content with the answer, though no one was very happy about it. May stood up from the chair and went over to a small storage closet. She pulled out a few flashlights and began to hand them out.

Liam used one to read a book on the couch. Roger just decided to go to his room, so did Mason. Collins took a flashlight to look over the lesson plans that he had figured out for his class at NYU once school started back up. Mark fiddled with his camera for a little while before just deciding to go to his room too. May sighed, not knowing how to spend the rest of the evening.

She tried to think if there was anything that she needed to get done but realized that there was really only one thing. She thought about it for a moment, contemplating whether it was a good idea or not, before taking a deep breath and walking to a bedroom door. She knocked on it a bit nervously.

"Yeah?" Roger called from the other side of the door.

"Dad, it's me." May said. "Can I come in?" There was a short moment of silence from the other side of the door before he answered.

"Sure." He called. May took another breath before pushing open the door. She peaked her head in the room and saw her dad sitting on his bed.

"Hey." She said with a small smile as she stepped in the room.

"What's up?" he asked her. May sighed nervously and tried to reassure herself that this was a good idea.

"I was just checking on you. You know, to see if you're okay." Roger gave a half smile.

"This is supposed to be the other way around. It's supposed to by _my _job to ask _you_." He sighed. "I haven't really been doing my job lately, have I?"

"No, your doing fine." She reassured, although she knew it wasn't completely true.

"May, I know I haven't." he pat the bed next to him. "Sit."

She hesitated a moment before going over and sitting down next to him.

"I'm sorry May." He said after a moment. "I have been acting different lately but I need you to know, its not your fault. Its just been hard since… since your mom died." He said, his voice sounding strained as if it caused him pain to say the words out loud.

"Dad its okay." She said quickly. She hated hearing him upset.

"I just want you to know that no matter what, no matter how bad or crazy things get around here, I will always love you." He said.

"I love you too dad." She said. Roger leaned over to wrap his arms around his daughter. May hugged him back, happy to have her dad again.


	7. Chapter 7

May was awoken in the morning by a knock on the front door. She sat up and looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. It read 7:45. She groaned; who would be knocking on the door before 8am? She stood up and grabbed a hairbrush, quickly running it through her hair before leaving her room. When she walked into the living room she saw that everyone else was already awake and sitting on the couch. She also noticed that the power still hadn't come back on. She watched as Mark stood up to answer the door.

Standing in the hall was the same man that she had bumped into on her way to work the day before. He was wearing another expensive looking suit and the same boy was standing behind him.

"Benny?" Mark asked in disbelief. At that, both Roger and Collins stood up and walked over as well.

"Hey guys…" the man said awkwardly. He looked into the apartment and gave a small smirk. "I see your power's out."

"And now it's starting to make sense." Collins grumbled.

"I have a feeling that you had something to do with this." Roger said sourly. Benny chuckled.

"Just thought that I would announce my arrival in a special way. You know, for old time's sake."

"Hilarious." Mark said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What do you want Benny?" Roger asked. "We haven't heard from you in years."

"I was in the neighborhood." Benny answered nonchalantly. "Thought that I'd stop by to meet up with my old friends. And," he said, motioning to the boy that was standing behind him "to introduce you to my son. This is Maxwell." The boy gave a small wave.

"Nice to meet you." Collins said pleasantly. May gave a small smile; leave it to Collins to be friendly to the child of the man who he obviously disliked.

"This is my son Liam." He said as Liam stepped forward. "And Roger's daughter May." May stepped forward awkwardly. When Benny saw her his eyes grew wide for a moment before he gave a small smirk.

"Yes, I believe we've met." He said. The rest of the room looked over to May questioningly. "So that is how you knew which apartment they lived in." he said with a laugh. "I should have guessed, you look exactly like Mimi." He sighed and turned to Roger. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened." He said. Roger nodded coldly.

Mark turned to May, Liam, and Mason. "Why don't you guys go show Maxwell around? Show him the around the area. Bring Daphne too; I'll call Maureen and Joanne to tell them you are on your way." He instructed. Liam nodded.

"Give me a minute to get dressed." May said as she ran off to her room. In a few minutes she was back, fully dressed in faded jean shorts and an orange t-shirt. The four of them went out the door.

"So why are you really back here Benny?" Collins asked once the kids had left. Benny sighed.

"To tell you the truth, Alison and I have been having some troubles. We are filing for a divorce in about a week." He said. Roger tried to hold back a smirk; he always knew that Muffy wouldn't last long. Collins shot him a warning look.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Collins said to Benny.

"I came back to get away from it for a while. Well, also to get Maxwell away from it. It's been hard on him. " he admitted. "Allison wants me to take full custody and of course, I will. But it isn't easy for him."

"Well I'm sure that the kids will be able to take his mind off of it for a while." Mark said. "They are going to introduce him to Maureen and Joanne's daughter, Daphne. She is closer to his age, only a year younger."

"I appreciate it." Benny said. "I'm actually thinking about staying around here for a while. Maxwell is enrolled in school here when September starts." Collins felt bad for Benny, it seemed like he had been having a hard time and he wanted to be friendly but he couldn't just forget about how he had betrayed them all years ago. How he had almost caused them to be evicted and seemed to completely forget about their friendship. He couldn't decide whether they would accept him back or not. He could see that Mark was considering it but he could tell Roger wasn't going to forgive him so easily.

"So tell me about your children." Benny said. "They seem like good kids." Mark nodded.

"Of course they are." Roger answered coldly. Collins shot him another look.

"Liam is the oldest." Collins told him. "He is my adopted son." He decided to just give Benny the short version like he did most people, just saying that Liam was adopted. "He goes to the dance school down the street. He is also an honor student and planning on going to Harvard next fall." He said proudly. Collins loved bragging about his son, he couldn't help it.

"Mason is a photographer." Mark told Benny.

"He gets his love of cameras from his father I presume?" Benny asked with a smile.

"And May is a songwriter and a musician." Collins said, knowing that Roger was probably not going to open up to Benny any time soon.

"So they all ended up like their fathers." Benny concluded with a smile. "A genius, a cameraman and a musician. And you _all_ live here…?" he asked carefully as his eyes wandered around the apartment. It seemed even smaller than it had when he had lived here. He couldn't imagine six people living in here comfortably.

"Yes." Collins answered. "And we love it." He added, seeing Benny's questioning look.

… … … … … … .. … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Mason, Liam and May walked with Maxwell through the streets on their way to the building where Joanne, Maureen and Daphne lived. Because they had made this trip hundreds of times before, they took the shortcut through a few back alleys and almost empty streets. Liam, Mason and May seemed completely relaxed but Maxwell kept nervously checking over his shoulder.

"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked them, making sure not to fall even a step behind. Mason chuckled quietly.

"Of course it's safe." May assured him, fighting back a smile. She knew that Avenue B might look a bit shady to someone who wasn't used to it, but Mason was acting like they were walking through Avenue D in the middle of the night. Maxwell nodded but continued checking behind him and walking quickly.

"So Max-" Liam began to say.

"I don't go by Max." Maxwell interrupted, annoyance edging in his voice. "Just Maxwell." There was a quick beat of silence before Liam nodded and exhaled loudly, obviously trying to be nice to him. May glanced over to Liam who she could tell was holding back his annoyance at this kid. May couldn't blame him; she could hardly stand Maxwell already.

She was thankful when they arrived at the apartment building where Daphne was already outside waiting for them, glad she didn't have to try to make conversation with Maxwell.

Daphne ran up to meet them, smiling and hugging May around the waist when she reached her. "Good morning!" she said happily to the group.

"Wow, you're in a good mood." May commented. Mason laughed quietly.

"Who are you and what have you done with Daphne?" he asked. Daphne elbowed him playfully and stuck her tongue out at him as the others, aside from Maxwell, laughed. Daphne turned towards him.

"Who's this?" she asked Liam while still looking strangely at Maxwell. It wasn't often that any of the kids brought an outside friend to any of their outings.

"This is Maxwell." Mason said with a forced smile. "His dad is an old friend of our parents. They both are moving to the area and Max- I mean _Maxwell_, will be going to our school in the fall."

"What grade are you in?" Daphne asked Maxwell.

"I'll be a sophomore." He answered, sounding completely uninterested, though Daphne didn't seem to notice. She continued asking him questions with as much enthusiasm as before.

"Awesome! I'm going to be a freshman and I'm _so_ excited! I'm only thirteen now but I'll be fourteen in a few weeks. How old are you?" May ignored the sound of Daphne's excited chatter and Maxwell's halfhearted responses as she glanced at Liam and Mason, all sharing their thoughts with a single look. They all were beginning to understand why Mark and Roger had been less than welcoming to Benny; if he was anything like his son, he wasn't exactly the type of person they were used to associating with.

Liam soon cut Daphne off, suggesting that they all go get some coffee from a stand just around the corner. They all agreed, though Maxwell looked less than excited about having to continue walking through the iffy looking neighborhood and spending more time with these kids that were so… different, than the higher caliber of friends he had had at his old home.

After arriving at the coffee stand and getting their drinks, they all decided that it was best to go back to their apartment; it was going to get hot out soon and they didn't want to be on the streets when the air turned almost too awful to stand. On their way back, May decided to try one last time to talk to Maxwell, seeing if maybe he could redeem himself and seem like a decided human being.

"So, where did you move here from?" she asked him.

"Boston. That is where my family has lived since I was born. But my mother and father used to live here. They moved when they found out my mother was pregnant with me, they didn't think that New York was a good place to raise a child." He said as he looked around at the buildings and people that surrounded them as if to amplify his point. May pretended not to notice that he must have been implying that there was something wrong with the people who _were_ raised there, them in specific. But she decided not to ask him anything after that. She had made up her mind about Maxwell Coffin.

**Okay I know that it has been too long since I have updated but everything has been so wicked busy lately with school and play rehearsals and everything else that just comes up. But I was reminded to update by my friend Sam (check her out, her pen name is Sammi Faye) and I decided that I should update for you guys! But I am sorry to say that this story, as well as my others, will be getting updated much slower for a while because my computer has decided to be mean to me and break. I had to go to my grandfather's house just to get this up. So just be patient and I will try to fix everything as soon as possible. **

**I also want to thank all of the people who have reviewed this story so far, it really means the world to me. I literally jump up and down from happiness every time I see a new review. So PLEASE review!**

**One more thing, I have been trying to think of some way to include Angel in a future chapter so if you have any ideas on how I should do that, feel free to PM me with suggestions!**


	8. Chapter 8

Mason looked around the empty living room, checking to make sure that there was no one there. He knew that everyone but he and Liam were out of the house doing something on their own and Liam was in their room reading some ridiculous summer assignment book. Still, he wanted to be certain he was alone.

He took one of his dad's reels of film from the old box, not checking to see what the label said. He didn't care what it was a video of; he just needed to watch something from before. Before Benny and Maxwell arrived. Before Collins had gotten this sick. Before Mimi died. Before everything had gotten so complicated. As he set up the projector he hoped that the video was further back in his life than he could remember. He needed a distraction.

It wasn't further back than he could remember, but it was close enough. The video was of his and May's first day of high school.

_ The screen showed a view of the apartment, busy with everyone rushing around as they collected books, clothes, bags, and various other items that would be needed for the day. No one stopped to look at the camera for a few minutes, each person too busy to bother. Finally, Mark's voice could be heard from behind the camera as Mason walked by the shot._

_ "Mason!" he called, trying to get his son's attention. It worked and Mason turned to face the camera, his blonde hair that had grown a bit too long over the summer partially covering his eyes. He rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming. His father did this every year on the first day of school. He would ask them the same questions: how they were feeling, were they excited, what clubs they wanted to join, what they wanted to be when they left school. And without a doubt, he asked them again this year. Mason stood in front of the door as he answered the questions into the camera._

_ "Yeah, I guess I'm a little excited," Mason said after Mark asked the first question. "It'll be good to see new people instead of the same faces everyday." As he said this, May came into view of the camera. Mark took a step back, widening the shot so the two could fit better on the screen. May put her arm playfully around Mason's shoulder._

_ "Are you saying you're sick of me?" she asked with a look of mock hurt on her face. The look was quickly replaced with a wide smile as she laughed quietly. Her hair had been straightened for the day and she was wearing her new red skirt that Roger hadn't _exactly_ approved of yet. _

_ "Yes, I am," Mason said, a smile crossing his face as well. _

_ "Shut up!" May said as she pushed him lightly, earning a laugh from behind the camera. _

_ "What about you, May? Are you excited for school?" Mark asked. May shrugged her shoulders._

_ "No, not really," she answered. "I mean, I'm glad that I'll be with my friends. But then again, all of my best friends live with me," she said, putting her arm around Mason again. He grinned and looked down at her. May had been exceptionally shorter than anyone else in the house until her sophomore year. She was at least five inches shorter than Mason at the time._

_ "Yes, we do," Mason said with a grin. "And May is going to join Photography Club with me this year…"_

_ "Not a chance, Mason!" May exclaimed. It was a constant argument between the two. Every year Mason would try to get her to join one of his photography classes and every year May would say no and counter his argument by telling him that he should join a music class. Neither of them ever got their way in these arguments._

_ "Fine…" Mason said with a sigh of defeat. _

_ "So, what do you two want to be when you grow up, as of today?" Mason resisted rolling his eyes at his father. He knew that it was something that a lot of parents did, ask their children what they wanted to be when they grew up and then they would see how the answer changed throughout the years. And he assumed that, in normal cases, the answers would go from things like 'princess' and 'astronaut' to things like 'doctor' and 'lawyer'. But in their house, the answer had been the same since the kids started school. _

_ "Same as always, dad," Mason said. "I'm going to be a photographer, May is going to be a musician," he paused for a moment as he looked off camera. "And Liam is going to be whatever geniuses are." Just then Liam came into view, his backpack slung over his shoulder and a large book tucked into his arms. He stood next to May as he looked from the camera to Mason._

_ "A teacher," he clarified. "I'm going to be a teacher just like my dad."_

_ "I thought you were going to be a lawyer like Aunt Jo?" May asked him._

_ "Well, I guess I still want to do that too…" he said as his voice drifted off, deep in thought. "Maybe I'll do both," he said with a nod. And knowing Liam, they all believed him._

_ "Come on guys, you don't want to be late!" Collins called from somewhere off camera. _

_ "Mark, get that thing out of their faces," Roger said from closer than where Collins had been. It sounded like he was right next to Mark._

_ "Well excuse me for documenting an important moment in our children's lives!" Mark said defensively. May rolled her eyes and smiled._

_ "Its just high school, Uncle Mark. It's not like we're moving out or anything. Besides, Liam started high school last year so he will be there to show us around," she pointed out. Mark sighed._

_ "Fine, but will you at least let me film you for a little while after school?" he asked them. "Then, I promise, I'll be done."_

_ "Yeah, okay dad," Mason agreed before turning back to May and Liam. "Ready to go?"_

The screen went black for a moment, leaving Mason sitting in silence before the next scene came on the screen. As promised, it was a few hours later after the three had returned home from school.

_Mason, Liam, and May were all sitting on the couch in the living room. Liam was perched on the edge of the cushion with a book clutched in his hands, his eyes scanning rapidly over the pages. Mason and May sat on the opposite side, both sunk as far back into the seat as possible. They both leaned comfortably against each other. Their heads were back and they shared the same footrest. Mason watched the TV uninterestedly with his eyes only half open while May sat right next to him, her eyes closed though she was obviously still awake. _

_ "How are you guys doing?" Mark asked with a quiet chuckle because it was obvious how they were doing._

_ "Tired," Mason stated, his eyes not leaving the television screen._

"_Exhausted," May corrected, her eyes still closed. She rested her head on Mason's shoulder and let out a sigh._

_ "The school is so big," Mason told Mark as he looked up at the camera. "I didn't think it would be so different."_

_ "How about you, Liam?" Mark asked._

_ "Not bad," he said as he looked up from his book. "But I guess I'm just more used to it than them. They'll be used to it soon enough, too." He assured. He looked over to Mason and May and tried to hold back a smile. "Though it might take them a while to even wake up."_

_ "Dad, do you think that you could save the camera thing for another time?" Mason asked. _

_ "Sure Mason," Mark said. The shot zoomed out and lingered on all of the kids for a few seconds longer before the screen went black and the reel ended. _

Mason sighed in content as he sat there once again in the room's empty silence. Not quite ready to return to the day he was stuck in, he let his mind wander back to the day that he had just watched. He found that he could remember it better than he thought. He could remember going into the school that morning, May never leaving his side. They had been so wide eyed and ready to take on the world but by the end of the day the wonder and magic of high school had worn off and the reality left them empty and tired. He remembered homeroom that morning. How he and May had been so excited that they had the same room. They sat together, forgetting that earlier they had wanted to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. But when homeroom had ended they had to split up, each having different classes on their schedule. They learned that the only other class that they had together was math during the last class of the day.

Mason had spend the next hours after that completely silent. He sat alone in all of his classes. All of his old friends had seemed to forget about him and he was too shy to try to make any new ones, at least not without May or Liam by his side. It was then he had realized how dependent he was on both of them. The only time he had felt happy during that day was in his Photography Class sixth hour. He adored the class and he liked the teacher, unlike all the other ones he had gotten. By the time that class ended he had been so happy that he had forgotten that he had the class with May the next hour. He went into the math class with a smile on his face.

Though the smile had quickly faded when he walked into the room and saw May sitting there. She had been hunched over her desk, her hair over her face and her hands covering her eyes. He quickly walked over to her, automatically knowing something was wrong. He knelt down next to her and pulled her hands gently away from her face. He looked into her eyes that were filled with tears. He didn't even have time to ask her what was wrong before she through her arms around him and clutched onto him tightly, sniffling softly into his shoulder.

This had scared Mason; he rarely ever saw May cry, ever. She was always the strong one out of them. But at that moment, she seemed like a fragile child.

She spent the next few minutes explaining to him how a few girls found out about her being HIV positive and had been making fun of her for it. She told him how terrible they made her feel and how she wanted to leave the school right then, not wanting to endure any longer in the building. He held her and assured her that everything would be okay. The day was almost over and after that class, they could go home. He told her that if the girl's didn't stop, he would make them. That was the only thing he said that seemed to make her feel better. She had wiped her eyes until they were free of tears, leaving only red circles around her eyes. She made him promise not to tell her parents and, though with a bit of protest, he promised.

That is why they had both seemed so exhausted on the film. Mason had stayed true to his word and never told anyone else in their house about what had happened. When he asked her a few days later if the girl's were still bothering her, May had told him how she had taken care of it. And based on the way he saw a group of girl's avoid her in the hallway and the terrified looks they had given her, Mason knew that May had shown them that she wasn't to be messed with. That wasn't the first time Mason knew she was a fighter, but it was the most proud he had been of her for it.

Although in the end May had been able to take care of herself, that was the day Mason realized that he never wanted to see her cry. He realized how much he cared about her as his best friend.

Or maybe… something more?

**Sorry about the long wait guys. Like I said in the last chapter, my computer was all messed up and I didn't have internet for a while. But I think it's mostly fixed and that means more updates! **

**So what did you think of the chapter? It is definitely going to help lead into the next few. I should update soon, like within the next week or two. But remember, reviewing makes me update much faster! I got a wicked awesome review for the last chapter and it made me SO happy (though the person left it signed as a Guest) Well, whoever it was, thank you so much it literally made my week. So remember to review and thank you all for being awesome!**


	9. Chapter 9

May let out a long sigh as she looked out over the city from the fire escape she was standing on. She had been out there alone for the past couple hours, just wanting time to herself to think. Well, it wasn't like getting time alone had been very difficult the past few weeks. Actually, it had been harder to find anyone around to talk with than it was to find space to be alone.

Mason had almost completely ignored her since Maxwell and Benny had arrived. At first she didn't think much of it, but after a few days she could see a definite change in the way he acted around her. He would never talk to her unless she said something to him first, and even then he would give no more than a one word response and then mutter some excuse of why he had to go. And then it had gotten even worse when he seemed to be avoiding being in the house with her at the same time. He would always leave early in the morning and come back late at night. When May had asked Mark about it he said that Mason would come home around the time that she went to work.

She felt like they were wasting time. Summer break had always been the time when all four of the kids spent every waking moment together. It was a time of freedom and not caring. But it was already mid July and she couldn't have felt less care free.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the entrance that led to the fire escape opened and Liam poked his head through.

"Ready to go?" he asked her. May knew where he meant. It was July 17th; Daphne's birthday. They were all going to the Life for her party and May guessed that they were a little late already.

"Everyone else is already there," Liam said. She tore her eyes away from the skyline that she had been staring at the entire time and faced him.

"Is Mason coming?" she asked hopefully. She knew that there was no way Mason was going to miss this, no matter how much he wanted to avoid her. And she assumed that the three of them were going to walk there together as always.

"Yeah, he's already there," he told her. "He decided to go a little early to help Aunt Mo and Aunt Jo set up." May sighed; so Mason had found a way to get out of walking with them. Still, he was going to be at the party. She decided that she would talk to him then, where there was no way he could get out of it.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she said as she climbed into the house. She walked out of the door with Liam right behind her.

… … … … … … .. … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The Life Café was completely full of people. Not only was all of Daphne's "family" there, but all of her friends from school too. She couldn't have been happier about the event. She had always loved parties in general, but she especially loved the attention that came with throwing them. Walking around the restaurant, she greeted everyone that she could. She saw one face, though, that she hadn't expected.

"Maxwell?" she asked the uncomfortable looking boy. He was standing by himself off to the side of the room, looking around apprehensively. He looked _very_ out of place. He offered a timid smile when he turned to face her.

"Um, hey Daphne," he said. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," she muttered, looking at him a bit strangely. She couldn't think of why he was there; it had been obvious that he hadn't liked them the last time that they had all hung out together.

"I-I hope it's not a problem that I came. It's just that… well, Mr. Collins invited me and-" he stuttered nervously. Daphne couldn't help but giggle softly at his attempt to make conversation.

"It's okay, I'm glad you came," she said honestly. She knew too well how much Mason, Liam and May had disliked him; they made that very clear when they had returned home from showing Maxwell around the first day they met him. But really, Daphne didn't think he was so bad. He just seemed like he wasn't used to the area and was a little nervous about it, which she could understand. She knew that New York could take some getting used to when you hadn't grown up there your whole life. To her, Maxwell just seemed like someone who needed a friend.

Though when she had told this to May and Liam (Mason had not been around, per usual the past few weeks) they had immediately told her that she was wrong. They thought that Maxwell Coffin was simply bad news, no way around it.

"You should talk to some people!" she encouraged. "Make some friends. Most of the kids here are going to be in your school so you'll have to meet them all eventually. Come on!" As she spoke she took him by the arm and led him over to a group of boys his age.

"Guys, this is Maxwell. He's new. Bye!" she said as she ran off before Maxwell could protest, which she knew he would. But she also knew that he would thank her for this. She skipped over to a group of her friends on the other side of the room.

… … … … … … .. … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Liam had been right, everyone was already at the party by the time he and May arrived. May didn't think she had ever seen the place so crowded. She was so distracted by all the people that she almost forgot what she wanted to do. Almost.

Moments after stepping in the door she spotted Mason standing by himself in a corner, playing with the settings on his camera. May strode quickly across the room, careful to avoid colliding with any of the other party guests. In a few short moments she was standing in front of him.

"Mason," she said, getting him to look away from his camera and up at her. For the briefest second a nervous look crossed his face, but it was quickly wiped away.

"Oh, hey May…" he said quietly.

"What the hell is going on with you lately?" she demanded.

"I-I don't know what you're-" he stammered.

"Of course you know," she snapped, stopping him mid sentence. "You haven't spoken to me in days, you're never home, you've been distant. What's going on?" she repeated. "Are you doing something dangerous or stupid or illegal-"

This time it was him who cut her off. "No, of course not!" he insisted. "It isn't anything like that."

"Then what is it?" she demanded, crossing her arms. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair uncertainly. There was a long pause of silence.

"I can't tell you," he said at last, dropping his gaze to the ground.

May's eyes flashed angrily and a scowl crossed her face. "You can't tell me?" she questioned loudly. "We always tell each other everything! Since when do we keep secrets from each other?" She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Whatever Mason," she said harshly before turning before turning on her heels and taking a step away.

He quickly grabbed her arm, preventing her from taking a second step. "May, wait," he pleaded. She spun back around reluctantly.

"What do you-" she began, but before she could finish Mason stopped her by pressing his lips against hers.

Immediately, a mix of shock and confusion washed over her. There was a moment when she couldn't even find the ability to react. But the second she remembered how to move she pulled away and took a step backwards, distancing herself very slightly from him.

"I-I… I shouldn't have… I just… I'm sorry." Mason said almost too quickly to be comprehendible before pushing past her and running out the door.

May was left standing there alone, her body frozen and her eyes wide in utter confusion.

Liam stood watching, as he had been the entire time, from across the restaurant. He wasn't sure whether to be happy for his friends or terrified about how different he knew everything was about to be.

**Yay for quick updates! I know this chapter is a little short but I just wanted to get it out as soon as I could. **

**So what did you think?! Let me know in a review! Did you like it? Hate it? I want to know!**

**On an unrelated note, to any of my readers who may have been in the path of the hurricane this past weekend, I hope you're all okay! I know how devastating it was in some areas and I really hope nothing bad happened to any of you or your friends or family. I live in part of the path of the storm but I was lucky that my area wasn't hit _too_ badly. A lot of power lines and trees came down and school was out for a day (but two or three days in all of the towns around me) but not many people were too seriously hurt. **

**Thank you to TheNewRENT-Head for leaving a review on the last chapter! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Oh my gosh it has been SOOOOOO long since I updated! IM SO SORRY EVERYONE I AM THE WORST PERSON WHO HAS EVER EXISTED. Although, I kind of have some excuses. For one, I was in my school's musical (It was The Wiz and I played Glinda) and that took up pretty much every waking moment, especially towards the end. Also, I haven't had a working computer since before the last time I updated. I had to go to my grandfather's house to post the last couple of chapters and I didn't really want to do that anymore so I just didn't post at all. But now I am happy to say that I **_**think**_** I'm back for a while. I don't have any more theatre until the fall *sobs in a corner* and school should be winding down soon. So maybe, just maybe, that means semi-frequent updates! Yaaaaaay!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

May stared at the cracks running along the ceiling in her bedroom as she laid face up on her bed. She hadn't moved in hours, not wanting to see or talk to anyone.

Right after Mason had left the party she had been too stunned to move. She had just watched the door he had left through for a long time, not knowing at all what she should do. When she finally came to her senses she had run outside calling his name, wanting to find him and talk to him. But after searching all surrounding the café she still hadn't found him. She had returned home, hoping that he was there, but Mark had just told her that Mason had called saying that he was going to stay over his friend's house for a few nights.

She hadn't slept at all, her mind racing too quickly to even close her eyes. Now it was almost noon and she was home alone with Liam; everyone else had found somewhere else to be. Usually she wouldn't have minded the quiet and probably would have used it to get some work done or play around on her piano, but what she really wanted was a distraction.

"No need to panic, I'm here," a voice called from the front door. Moments later a girl around May's age with long blonde hair and huge blue eyes walked into the bedroom.

May sat up and gave a small smile. "Hi Sammi," she greeted. The girl took one look at May's messed up hair, tired looking eyes, and tearstained face before crossing the room and sitting down on the bed, wrapping her arms around May before saying another word.

Sammi had been May's best friend, outside of Mason Liam and Daphne, since the 7th grade when they had met through their school's musical. May had only been there to play piano for the pit because she refused to do any other kind of performing in front of other people, but she had quickly become friends with Sammi, who was an actress. Even back then Sammi had gotten all the leads in the shows and had loved being in the spotlight. She was energetic and bubbly and got along with pretty much everyone she met, which is one of the reasons May had liked her so much.

May had quit doing the plays after the first year but had stayed close friends with Sammi.

She had called her right when she had gotten home after looking for Mason. It had been past midnight at the time, but Sammi had listened as May told her everything that had been happening with her and Mason and she had agreed to come over in the morning.

"What am I going to do?" May asked quietly. She could already feel her throat tightening and her eyes filling with tears.

"You know I can't tell you that," Sammi said, still holding onto her friend.

"He's been like my brother since we were born. I've never thought of him as anything else." May sat up straight, pulling out of Sammi's arms but still holding onto her hand. "And I never even imagined that he thought of me as anything else either. But when I found those pictures and he started acting all weird and then he just kissed me out of nowhere last night when I thought that he was angry at me but apparently he really just-"

"May. Breath," Sammi instructed, cutting off May's rambling. "I know that it's confusing but you just have to go with what you really feel. I mean, he's been your best friend since forever, but can you honestly tell me that you've _never_ felt something more for him?" she asked with a smirk.

"What? No! Never! Of course not!" May insisted but Sammi only smiled and shook her head.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," she teased. May glared at her and Sammi laughed. "Oh come on May, you're not fooling me."

May sighed. "Fine. _Maybe_ there have been one or two times when I might have felt a little something more than friendship between us," she admitted.

"I knew it!" Sammi yelled in excitement. She jumped up from the bed and pulled May up with her. "You guys are perfect for each other! You have to tell him!"

"Sammi, hold on. Wait a second," May said. "I can't just _tell_ him."

"And why not?" Sammi asked, crossing her arms.

"Because," May said with a sigh. "It's not safe for him to be with me. I have HIV, you know that. I could never risk giving it to him. Besides, he's probably mad at me now anyways. The way I acted last night, he has every right to be." She slumped back down on the bed and rested her chin in her hands.

Sammi knelt down in front of her. "May Davis. I have known you since we were thirteen years old and in all that time you have never once let this disease stop you from doing anything. Especially something that would mean this much to you. Mason has known about this since you guys were kids and he still chose to love you. If it's not stopping him then why would you let it stop you? If you guys are safe about it, you wouldn't give it to him and then you two could be happy."

May hesitated, not knowing what to say. "Maybe you're right. We could be together without him getting sick."

"Of course I'm right!" she said, her smile returning. Before she could say anything else the phone in her pocket started beeping. She looked at the screen and sighed. "I've got to get to rehearsal, but you call me tonight and tell me how everything went. Promise that you will."

May laughed quietly. "I promise. Go ahead, you don't want to be late." Sammi stood up and walked towards the door.

"Sammi, wait," May called right before her friend walked out the door. She stopped walking and turned around to listen. "Thank you."

**So what did you all think? Nothing too major in this chapter but trust me, I have plans. *laughs evilly* I was pretty short but I liked it a lot.**

**Also, what do you all think of Sammi? She is actually based on one of my bestest friends in the world, my fellow theatre geek Sammi Faye (check her story out because it's freaking amazing!) We decided to put each other in our stories and so here she is! Sammi (my Sammi, not May's) was also in The Wiz with me and she was the most adorable-est munchkin in the entire world! (plus she makes a pretty awesome winkie and emerald city citizen) **

**BEFORE I FORGET, I HAVE ONE MORE ANNOUNCENEMT! I am looking for a picture for this story, so if any of you have some photo shopping skills and would like to send me one I will choose someone's to use as the cover for this story.**

**Review and let me know what you all thought! I love you all!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello my lovely readers! Because you were all so patient with the last chapter I decided to update quickly. Plus, this is no ordinary chapter. This is where things are going to start picking up. Which, I'm sorry to say, means that this story may be coming to an end soon. I'm considering doing some sort of epilogue or maybe even a sequel (and that is a major MAYBE) but I can't be sure. But we still have a few chapters left! So for you, my beautiful readers, I present this chapter. Enjoy!**

It had been three days since May had spoken to Sammi and all she had been thinking about was what she was going to say to Mason. How she planned to tell him that she, though it had taken her some time, realized that she felt the same way about him that he did for her. She was nervous, to say the least, but she knew it had to be done. She would tell him as soon as he got home.

But that was the problem. It had been three days and he still hadn't come home. When Mark had told her that he was staying at a friend's house she had expected him to be gone for a night, maybe two, but hadn't expected it to be this long.

She heard the apartment door open and jumped up, hoping that it was Mason finally home. But when she looked out of her room she saw that it was Collins. She couldn't tell what it was, but something seemed… off.

"May," he said, his voice sounding strange. "Is your dad or Mark home?"

"No," she answered. "They're both out. It's just me and Liam here." She looked at him closely. "Uncle Collins, are you okay?" He opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. He swayed back and forth for a second before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.

May screamed and she ran over to him. "Liam!" she yelled, her voice shaking harshly. "Liam, help!" Liam came running out of his room towards where he heard May calling for him. He was about to ask what was wrong when he saw his dad laying on the ground. He ran over and knelt down next to him.

"Call 9-1-1," he said, immediately reverting back to everything he had ever read about handling emergency situations. But May didn't move, instead she stood frozen in fear. "May, now!" he yelled, desperate to get her to focus enough to help.

When she heard Liam yell, May forced herself to move towards the phone. But everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Her hands shook as she dialed the numbers and brought the phone to her ear.

... … … … … …

He was comfortable. Comfortable and warm, despite the air conditioning in the apartment and the hard floor he was laying on. Collins could only slightly hear voices in the distance. First May's, then Liam's, then unfamiliar ones, all frantic.

He wanted to tell them not to worry. That he wasn't in pain. That everything was going to be okay. But he couldn't find his own voice. The sounds and voices around him slowly started to fade away and left him in a world of darkness. And then there was a warm white light surrounding him. And standing in front of him was the face he had said goodbye to so many years ago.

"Angel," he breathed. The figure smiled.

"Hello sweetheart," she said.

"We all miss you," he said "so much." He had thought about it for years, since the day Angel had left him, about what he would say if he could ever speak to her again. The sentence had changed so many times, but at the moment that was the only thing he could think of that expressed what he, and the rest of the family, had been feeling since she died.

"And I miss you all," she said. "But you've done a wonderful job of taking care of everyone without me. Especially Liam."

"Oh Angel, I wish you could've met him. You'd love him. And he'd love you. May and Mason too. They're all such good kids." Collins sighed. "The family has changed a lot. But I think that we've changed for the better." Angel smiled.

"I know you have. And I'm so proud of all of you."

"I think it's time for me to join you," he said with a mixture of relief and sadness. Sadness to be leaving his family behind but relief to finally be reunited with his Angel.

"Almost," she said "but not quite." Collins looked at her in confusion. "You have to go back for just a little bit longer, to say goodbye to our family."

… … … … … …

The entire family, with the exception of Mason, stood silently around the hospital bed where Collins was still lying unconscious. They had learned that he had a terrible fever and had over exhausted himself. The doctor had told them that Collins only had a little while left and he probably wouldn't make it through the night. He also couldn't be sure that Collins would wake up before he died.

May looked around at her family. Her dad was standing next to Mark, being his only source of comfort until Mason, who had been called at his friend's house and was on his way, showed up. Next to them Maureen and Joanne were holding each other as silent tears streamed down their faces. May had her arms wrapped loosely around Daphne as she stroked the younger girl's hair. Liam was the only one who stood alone. He was holding Collins' hand, not crying, but instead looking down at his father silently.

The door to the small room opened quickly and everyone turned around to see Mason entering. His hair was messed up, he had dark circles under his eyes, and he was out of breath, May guessed, from running to the hospital. He looked at everyone standing around and then down at Collins. He sighed heavily before walking over to his father, who put a hand on his son's shoulder. Roger left them alone and walked over to May as Daphne moved to her moms. Roger put his arm around May and kissed the top of her head.

They all stayed like that, each with their own real family but still close to everyone else, for almost an hour. May knew what the doctor said, that there was no chance that he would live past the night. Still, she couldn't help but hope.

Just before nine o'clock, the monitor that had been beeping slowly for the past hours started to pick up speed. They all glanced from the monitor to Collins, hoping for a miracle. After a couple of seconds, the man's eyes opened slowly.

"Dad?" Liam said hopefully, gripping his hand just a little tighter.

"Roger, Mark, Jo, Maureen" Collins said, his voice weak and shaky. The men stepped forward quickly. "I saw her," he said with a small smile. "I saw Angel." Mark and Roger smiled through there tears. "I'm sorry everybody," he said just a bit louder. "I hate to go, but I have to be with her now." The four adults, one after the other, knelt down next to Collins and said a few words to him in a hushed tone so no one else in the room could hear. After Maureen, the last adult to talk to him, backed away Collins called Daphne over.

"My little girl," he said with a soft smile. "I know that you're going to be a star someday so don't you _ever _give up."

"I won't" she said, barely able to speak through her tears.

"And never forget how much you were wanted. You're moms, and the rest of us, prayed for you to come to this family every day until we got you. And I know that it was worth the wait." He kissed her cheek and she moved to the side, letting Mason come forward.

"I know that you're going to do everything you can to take care of this family once I'm gone," he started. "And you'll never let anything happen to them. I trust you Mason, more than anything in this world, I trust this family to you. And just remember," he said, looking over to May, whose face was leaning on her father's arm, knowingly "sometimes you have to just take a chance."

After Mason had gone back over to Mark, May moved to Collins' side.

"May Elizabeth Davis," he said. "I never thought that a person could exist that combined both of your parents' best traits into a single human, but I was wrong. You are talented and passionate like your father, but beautiful and strong like your mother. And I know for a fact that she would be proud of you. Just like I am."

"I love you Uncle Collins," she said as she kissed his head.

"I love you too baby." She moved back over to her father and leaned into his side, crying harder than she had all day.

The last person in the room who hadn't yet said goodbye stepped forward slowly.

"Liam," Collins said, his voice weak and shaky. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to leave you this soon."

"It's okay dad," Liam said, the first tears he had let fall all day finally rolling down his face.

"You are the best thing that happened to me since my Angel left. I truly believe that she is the one that sent you to me. She couldn't come back herself, so she sent another angel. I love you, son. So, so much."

"I love you too dad," Liam said, barely audible through his tears. Before he could say anything else, the beeping from the monitor stopped and morphed into a single noise. The line on the screen had gone flat.

Nobody said or did anything, all crying and waiting for the doctor to come back in. But before he did, May pulled from her father's side and ran out of the room.

"May," Mason called. "May, wait!"


End file.
